May 4, 2020 / by Don Connelly / Storytelling, analogies and power phrases / 0 comments
As you might know already, I’m a big believer in telling a story.
As I write this, it’s presidential campaign season. The candidates are all about telling their stories. They want to get their preferred narratives out there, in front of voters. Successful candidates are very well rehearsed on these stories. They constantly make references to these stories, in the effort to brand themselves, differentiate themselves from other candidates, and inoculate themselves against attacks from competing candidates and their staffs.
Why?
Because it works!
It works in financial services, too.
In fact, it works so well that I don’t want you to have a single story defining you. I want you to have at least eight! And I want you to know them cold.
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Why You Should Create a Story-Benefit Matrix
May 18, 2020 / by Don Connelly / Storytelling, analogies and power phrases / 0 comments
Recently, in my post ”Never Underestimate the Power of a Good ‘Who I Am’ Story,” I mentioned the concept of building a good “story-benefit” matrix. I wanted to take a little time and drill down that concept.
Many salespeople are familiar with the concept of a features-benefit matrix – a handy little cheat-sheet that helps sales and marketing people translate product features into benefits for the customer.
Here’s how a features-benefit matrix works in a nutshell.
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8 Stories to Help You Build Trust and Open Accounts
May 4, 2020 / by Don Connelly / Storytelling, analogies and power phrases / 0 comments
As you might know already, I’m a big believer in telling a story.
As I write this, it’s presidential campaign season. The candidates are all about telling their stories. They want to get their preferred narratives out there, in front of voters. Successful candidates are very well rehearsed on these stories. They constantly make references to these stories, in the effort to brand themselves, differentiate themselves from other candidates, and inoculate themselves against attacks from competing candidates and their staffs.
Why?
Because it works!
It works in financial services, too.
In fact, it works so well that I don’t want you to have a single story defining you. I want you to have at least eight! And I want you to know them cold.
Read more
Thrive on Rejection – Don’t Let It Ruin Your Financial Advisor Career
December 7, 2015 / by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments
In order to succeed you need to prospect, open accounts and get referrals. To achieve these aims you need to face your fear of rejection. Rejection is an occupational hazard so rather than fear rejection you must find a way to thrive on it. Coca Cola sold 400 cokes in their first year. Henry Ford’s first two companies went under. They obviously learned to thrive on rejection. And if you don’t too you will halt any chance of success dead in its tracks.
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How Fear Can Cripple Your Financial Advisor Career
February 5, 2015 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
Top advisors have fears. They don’t like facing rejection any more than average advisors do but they just accept their fears as part of the job. Here are some common fears that prevent good advisors from becoming great advisors, and some tips about how to face down your fears.
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Your Goal Today Is to Get an Appointment
December 9, 2013 / by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments
What’s so magical about having goals? It’s not so much that we don’t achieve them. It’s that we too often conveniently forget we even have them. With or without goals, we still go in and chip away day after day. Not having goals is not going to cause us to skip a day. I work hard with or without goals. What’s the big deal?
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